Finland is often ranked as the happiest country on Earth, but that’s only if you like cold winters and harsh limitations on freedom of expression.
Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Finnish Parliament, has just been acquitted for posting a Bible verse on social media in 2019, but she was convicted for publishing a pamphlet in 2004. That she was prosecuted for either is the real crime.
She is a conservative Christian. Räsänen believes homosexuality is sinful. In the 2004 pamphlet, she called it a developmental disorder. The Finnish supreme court ruled that this is a crime. Because her statement was judged incorrect, she was found guilty of “making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group.”
Too often, Americans take for granted their First Amendment birthright. Courts should never decide which viewpoints are correct and which are not. That is especially true when it’s a minority viewpoint, as Räsänen’s is in Finland. The court acknowledged that her writing did not incite violence or hatred while still finding her guilty.
In the 2019 social media post, Räsänen quoted a Bible verse to support her belief that the church of which she was a part should not participate in Pride Month events. The prosecutor said to the court that citing the Bible is allowed, but “it is Räsänen’s interpretation and opinion about the Bible verses that are criminal.” Fortunately, she was acquitted for this reverse-Puritan blasphemy accusation.
But she was acquitted of all charges by two lower courts. The Finnish government appealed those rulings, dragging out the case for years to finally secure this one conviction, for which Räsänen is fined 1,800 euros.
Räsänen is now considering appealing to the European Court of Human Rights. This is a case where the process is the punishment.
Räsänen’s co-defendent in the case is a Lutheran bishop, Juhana Pohjola, who published the pamphlet. He is also chairman of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of denominations that includes the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the second-largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
“This court decision is a defeat not only for us and those who adhere to traditional Christian teaching,” he said, “but also for those who think differently, because the issue of freedom of speech and religion is common to all.”
If Finland is able to do this to a sitting member of its legislature and a clergyman who chairs an international organization with millions of members, no less notable person can feel comfortable expressing similar views in public.
It’s tempting for Americans to look at this travesty and think it couldn’t happen here. But Finland’s constitution says everyone has both freedom of expression and religion. Maintaining a culture of free speech is as important, maybe more so, than any words on a page.
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